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COPYRIGHT DEPOWB 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, 
THE SOIL 



BY 

WILLIAM W. WALTER 



PUBLISHED AND FOR SALE 
BY 

WILLIAM W. WALTER 

25 North Spencer Street, 
AUKOEA, ILLINOIS. 



W3fe 



Copyright, 1912 

BY 

WM. W. WALTER. 



/ 



CGLA320424 



$ 



Dedicated to alt Workers 
In the Master's Vineyard 



WORKS BY WILLIAM W. WALTER 

THE PASTOR'S SON 

A Story on Creation 
206 pages, cloth bound. Price $1.25 postpaid. 

THE DOCTOR'S DAUGHTER 

A Story on the Fallacy of Drug Healing 
231 pages, cloth bound. Price $1.25 postpaid. 

THE ARBITER OF YOUR FATE 

A Story on Man's Dominion 
249 pages, cloth bound. Price $1.25 postpaid. 

FIVE YEARS IN CHRISTIAN SCIENCE 

The Author's Own Experience 
209 pages, cloth bound. Price $1.25 postpaid. 

THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

A Short Story on the Requirements to Healing 
60 pages, cloth bound. Price 55 cts. postpaid. 

For sale by regular dealers, or address 

WILLIAM W. WALTER 

Author and Publisher 
25 North Spencer Street, Aurora, Illinois 



"Father, I don't know that I ever en- 
joyed myself as I have the last few days, 
and my wife and children say the same." 

"It makes my heart glad to hear you say 
this, Florien. Mother and I have often 
wondered whether you had not entirely for- 
gotten the home of your boyhood, for you 
never seemed inclined to pay us a visit. 
Do you realize that it is more than eight 
years since you have been here!" 

" 'My old home.' How sweet those 
words sound, and what a flood of thought 
surges through my mind from the pleas- 
ant past! No, father, it was not forget- 
fulness that kept me from paying you a 
visit, but it seemed that I just could not get 

7 



8 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

my affairs in shape to leave them, until 
recently/ ' 

The second speaker was a tall, stately 
man of perhaps sixty years, but so well 
preserved that those who did not know his 
age would not guess Michael Regnets to 
be a day over fifty. The younger man, 
named Florien, thirty-eight years of age, 
was the eldest son of Michael Regnets. 
Eight years previous to the opening of this 
story he had gone to the far west to seek 
his fortune, taking his wife and three chil- 
dren, two boys and a girl, aged seven, five 
and two, respectively, with him. The older 
gentleman looked at the speaker, and a 
faint smile hovered upon his lips, as he 
answered : 

"Son, you stated that exactly right.' ' 

The son looked up with a surprised look 
and said: 

"I don't understand. What was it that 
I said exactly right?" 

"You said: 'But it seemed that I just 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 9 

could not get my affairs in shape to leave 
them,* and I wished to call your attention 
to the fact that it was only in the seem- 
ing." 

"But, father, it is the truth." 

"So it seems to you ; but, in fact and in 
truth, it is not correct. You allowed your 
business to dominate you, when in reality 
no business has dominion. God gave man 
dominion, and what God gave he never 
takes back; hence man has dominion now, 
and, according to Scripture, 'over all the 
earth, ' his business included." 

After a moment's surprised silence, Flo- 
rien said: 

"Well, well, that is surely a new way 
to look at things. I suppose this view 
has something to do with the new religion 
that you have occasionally written me 
about." 

"Yes. And after seven years of careful 
thought I find this new religion, as you are 
pleased to call it, absolutely correct, and in 



10 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

full accord with the teachings of Jesus of 
Nazareth." 

" Father, after receiving your first letter 
on this subject I followed your advice and 
looked into this matter a little, but I did 
not find anything that vitally interested 
me." 

" What did you find!" 

"Oh, I found that they had a church in 
our city with a hundred or more members, 
and that there was a lady in town who 
posed as a healer, but there seemed to be 
nothing extraordinary happening — I mean, 
no raising of the dead or instantaneous 
cures of cripples, as is related in the Scrip- 
tures. I even asked our family physician 
about it, and he said it was all nonsense. ' ' 

A hearty laugh followed these words of 
the younger man, who, looking at his father 
with surprise, said. "Why, father, what 
are you laughing at?" 

"At what you expected to see, and also 
that you were innocent enough to ask ad- 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL H 

vice from one who would know next to 
nothing of the new-old healing power of 
Truth, and probably wished that he had 
heard even less about it." 

"Oh, I also talked with a man who had 
had treatment and was not healed. He told 
me in confidence that he himself thought it 
was all a fraud and he would never have 
consented to take the treatment only that 
his wife almost insisted that he try it. He 
said that he was not benefited and knew of 
others that had not been benefited, and 
therefore he and I concluded that if it did 
not heal all cases there was not much to it. ' ' 

"Indeed! Let me ask, do the medical 
doctors heal all cases V 

"Why, no, of course not." 

"Then, by the same kind of reasoning, 
there can not be much to drug healing, 
either." 

"I hadn't thought of that, but I see that 
you are right. No one thinks that the doc- 
tors will cure all cases. But to claim a cer- 



12 THE SOWEE, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

tain method to be the method of the Christ 
is to infer that we may expect the uniform 
good results that followed the efforts of 
Jesus.' ' 

"And the same results would follow in 
every case, were it not for the fact that, as 
yet, the practitioners are all disciples, stu- 
dents, and not masters, of the Christ- 
method, none having arrived at the same 
depth of understanding of Life, God, that 
Jesus had; but they are on the way and 
already rejoice in some understanding and 
are able to do many things that in times 
past were thought impossible, many so- 
called incurable cases having been healed 
through the efforts of these students of 
the Master's method.' f 

"Still, I do not see why there should be 
any failures." 

"There are several things that make 
seeming failure possible. I will read you 
something from the Bible. The sixth chap- 
ter of Mark states : 'And he went out from 



THE SOWEE, THE SEED, THE SOIL 13 

thence, and came into his own country; 
and his disciples followed him. And when 
the Sabbath day was come he began to 
teach them in the synagogue: and many 
hearing him were astonished, saying, from 
whence hath this man these sayings? and 
what wisdom is this which is given unto 
him, that even such mighty works are 
wrought by his hands? Is not this the car- 
penter, the son of Mary, the brother of 
James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon? 
and are not his sisters here with us? And 
they were offended at him. But Jesus said 
unto them, A prophet is not without hon- 
our, but in his own country, and among 
his own Join, and in his own house. And he 
could there do no mighty work, save that 
he laid his hands upon a few sick folk and 
healed them. And he marveled because of 
their unbelief/ " 

Laying the Bible down, Mr. Eegnets 
looked at his son and said: 

" Haven 't we an exact parallel in human- 



14 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

kind today of the condition mentioned by- 
Mark ; the same unbelief in the power and 
might of God, the same unbelief in those 
who are courageous enough to stand for 
the omnipotence of God, the same distrust 
of those who teach something newer and 
better? I think you will agree with me 
that we have these same conditions to con- 
tend with and the wonder is, not that some 
are not healed, but rather that so many 
thousands have been healed under these 
unfavorable conditions. And these cures 
speak volumes in support of the honesty, 
selflessness, charity, purity and persistent 
effort to do good to their fellow men on the 
part of those who have enlisted in the prac- 
tice of Christian healing as taught and 
demonstrated by Mrs. Eddy, the earnest 
disciple of the Christ." 

"Yes, I agree that the world is full of 
skepticism and skeptics. Doubt and dis- 
trust of one another is a characteristic of 
nearly all business men and women, but 



THE SOWEE, THE SEED, THE SOIL 15 

how you can consistently connect this dis- 
trust of one's neighbor or his motives with 
the failure to heal is more than I can 
under stand/ ' 

"I will try to make it plain to you. God 
is Truth, is He not?" 
" Yes, so I was taught, and still believe." 
"In Christian Science we are taught that 
God, or Truth is the healer. The Truth- 
cure is the only real cure or healing, mak- 
ing whole. In a booklet entitled ' Chris- 
tian Healing, ' page 13, Mrs. Eddy writes : 
'What are the foundations of metaphys- 
ical healing? Mind, divine science, the 
truth of being that casts out error and thus 
heals the sick.' According to this state- 
ment, it is the truth of being, the truth of 
or about life, the truth or reality of exist- 
ence, apprehended, comprehended, under- 
stood, that frees the individual mind from 
it's error, from its previous misconceptions 
or erroneous beliefs, and this heals them. 
How reasonable it all is when once under- 



16 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

stood, for all disease is of mental origin. 
It must be, for matter has no power to 
think, consequently it could make no condi- 
tions whatever. Therefore, we must look 
to the human consciousness, or mortal 
mind, for the error that is producing the 
bodily condition which we have named sick- 
ness." 

"Father, I have grasped a little of what 
you have said, but I do not see how an 
error in my thought could possibly be re- 
sponsible for an illness in my body." 

"The mind of the individual is outside 
of the body, for the body is merely the 
embodiment or visible manifestation of the 
mind, and always corresponds thereto in 
feeling, action and the like. The body is 
much like an echo. You shout, and the 
echo comes back. You think, 'I feel sick/ 
Back from the body comes the echo, 'I feel 
sick/ Then you think that the sickness 
originated in the body, being ignorant of 
the fact that the sick condition is merely 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 17 

the echo of the sick thought that you al- 
lowed yourself to think and express. You 
next view the sickness as a real condition, 
and forthwith send out a constant mental 
shout, 'I am sick,' and thus the echo is 
prolonged, or continued indefinitely. The 
human mind seems ignorant of the fact 
that each seed (thought) shall bear fruit 
(effect) after its kind, the erring, discord- 
ant thought bearing dis-ease and the true 
thought bearing health and harmony.' ' 
"Can what you have just said be true?" 
"Yes, it is fact and can be so demon- 
strated by each individual through a care- 
ful study of the Science of Life, Christian 
Science, and then putting into daily prac- 
tice the right method of thought, as 
taught in Christian Science, thinking only 
health, happiness, peace, love and good- 
will toward others at all times." 

"What a revelation, if it be true! I do 
not wish you to think that I doubt your 
word, father, but the thought is so new and 



18 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

contrary to my previous ideas that I can 
scarcely give credence to what yon have 
said." 

"I could hardly expect you to accept all 
this at once. In fact, I should prefer that 
you try out in your own experience what 
I have said, and let the results of this bet- 
ter way of life be judged by the greater 
blessings and happiness that will follow 
its practice." 

"I shall certainly make the attempt to 
keep illness and trouble out of my thought 
in the future, for surely no good can come 
from such thoughts, even if they do not 
bring sickness and trouble." 

"You will find it to be as I have said, 
but you must remember that five minutes 
of right thought and five hours of wrong 
thought will not keep you well. It is the 
habitual good thought that keeps us con- 
tinually well. As Mrs. Eddy states, good 
must predominate in the thought ; and this 
is surely just. Health must predominate 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 19 

in our thoughts if we wish health to pre- 
dominate in our lives." 

"I shall surely put it to the test. Please 
tell me more, father, as I am thoroughly 
interested/ ' 

1 ' There is so much to tell that I hardly 
know where to begin.' ' 

"Perhaps you can enlighten me as to 
why it is that, if this healing is accom- 
plished by God or through His gracious 
means, all cases are not instantly healed, 
for it seems to me that if it is God that 
does the healing it must be accomplished 
on the instant, as He is all-powerful and 
nothing can stay His power.' ' 

"You still have the common human view 
of God in mind or you would not ask this 
question. You will please remember that 
I said, and you admitted, that God is 
Truth, and it is Truth that heals.' ' 

"Yes, I admit that God is Truth, but if 
Truth is all-powerful, why does it not heal 
instantly?" 



20 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

"Bemember the scriptural statement, 
that Jesus did not many mighty works in 
his native town, because of their unbelief. 
And here is another statement from Mrs. 
Eddy which is similar. i Although Truth 
is all-powerful, yet you need the ear of 
your auditor/ Now to explain: Jesus 
spoke truth (the truth of being) to 
his hearers, perhaps mentally, perhaps 
audibly, but they did not believe (accept) 
his statements as truth, hence remained in 
their former thought and its consequent 
ills. To further illustrate: If I tell you 
truth and you do not accept it as truth, you 
are in no wise changed or affected by what 
I say, and therefore you are in the same 
mental mood as before I spoke, and so it 
was with those that Jesus tried to help 
in his own town. They thought of him as 
simply a carpenter and gave no credence 
to what he said ; hence they were not bene- 
fited (healed), because of their unbelief." 

"Then, according to what you have said, 



THE SOWEB, THE SEED, THE SOIL %\ 

it is only possible for those who believe to 
be healed." 

"It has not been found impossible to heal 
those who do not at first believe ; in many 
cases there is much unbelief in the begin- 
ning, but many unbelievers are also open 
to reason, and as these feel the benefit of 
truth, their unbelief changes more or less 
to faith and then the healing is fully 
consummated/ ' 

"Do you wish me to understand that 
a patient must or ought to believe that the 
practitioner can heal him?" 

"Decidedly not. The practitioner as a 
person has no power to heal. I wish you 
to understand that the patient ought to 
believe that God can heal him, or at least 
believe, if only in a degree, that he can 
be healed or benefited through mental 
treatment. We must not lose sight of the 
fact that disease is of mental origin, a state 
of self-deception or self -mesmerism, and if 
the one who is self -deceived insists on hug- 



23 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

ging his deception to him in the very face 
of Truth, then such an one is in reality a 
rejector of God, Truth, and surely we 
could hardly expect God in His divine jus- 
tice to force such an one to accept Him." 

"Father, this is more than I can grasp 
at present; you have given me food for 
much thought. But let me ask, do Chris- 
tian Scientists ever fail to heal them- 
selves !" 

"Yes, occasionally. You will remember 
that all are students as yet, and not mas- 
ters of this science as Jesus was. Again, 
many know much of Truth in a cursory 
way but have not proven for themselves 
the absoluteness of Truth. Still others 
know Truth quite thoroughly, but when 
attempting to heal themselves do not 
actually believe the truth that they say 
and think. Hence these are in a state 
of unbelief regarding Truth and do not 
receive the healing they crave i because of 
their unbelief. ' This happens most fre- 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 23 

quently when the student is under the 
immediate stress of pain or when the 
erroneous physical condition is so much 
in evidence that it takes more actual 
understanding of the truth of being than 
the student possesses to overcome the 
erring sense, and to recognize harmony 
and Truth as the only reality of being. 
Do you understand what I have said?" 

"I hardly know, but it seems to me that 
you wish me to understand that it is the 
recognition of the truth about our life or 
existence that will help us overcome errors 
regarding life, and in this way we are 
benefited by Truth/ ' 

"Yes; humanity has in general taken 
an erroneous view regarding Life and 
being, and this erring view is the cause 
of all this seeming pain and trouble, and 
therefore when we become conscious of 
the actual truth regarding God and man 
we are freed from our former erring views 
and their sharp consequences, named sick- 



24 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

ness, sin, trouble, poverty and the like. 
You will remember that Jesus said, 'Ye 
shall know the truth and the truth shall 
make you free/ " 

"Is it possible that Jesus ' words per- 
tain to that which you have just told me?" 

1 i What else could he have meant ? Truth 
is mental, and truth only can free us from 
error, for error is also mental. Knowing 
the law of mind, that each seed (thought) 
bears fruit (effect) after its kind, Jesus 
saw the terrible bodily effects wrought by 
wrong thought, or error in consciousness, 
and knowing further that all action must 
proceed from the mind, as the body has 
none of its own, he changed the bodily 
effects by casting out the erring thought 
from the consciousness of those who ap- 
plied to him for help. This was done, not 
through a supernatural power, but in a 
divinely natural way, simply by present- 
ing to the consciousness that was in error 
the actual truth. This freed the conscious- 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 25 

ness from its own self-deceptions and the 
body, being thereafter governed by the 
truth in consciousness, manifested this 
truth as harmony or health, the natural or 
real condition of life. Jesus knew that it 
was a law of consciousness that, if it was 
in error regarding anything, it would be 
freed, or could free itself, only by becom- 
ing aware of the truth ; so he said, i Ye shall 
know the truth and the truth shall make 
you free/ " 

"Father, that all looks more reasonable 
to me now, but what is the truth that we 
should know and which will set us free?" 

"It is the truth of being, the truth of 
life itself, the actual truth about our 
existence; not a knowing of what we call 
physical cause and effect, but rather a 
knowing of mental cause and effect. ' ' 

"But where can I learn this truth of 
being !" 

"The Bible teaches it. Jesus and his 
disciples, through symbol, metaphor and 



26 THE SOWER, THE SEED. THE SOIL 

parable, taught it. Mrs. Eddy, in her 
book, ' Science and Health, with Key to 
the Scriptures,' through comment, expla- 
nation, translation and interpretation, 
teaches it, and lastly, through her indi- 
vidual exemplification and demonstration, 
she pointed out, to all who care to follow, 
the way to overcome all our present dif- 
ficulties, and ultimately to attain union 
with that perfect, divine Mind which was 
in Christ Jesus, and gave him dominion 
over even the last enemy, which the Scrip- 
tures declare to be death." 

"Admitting that all that you say is true, 
how is a busy man like myself to find the 
necessary time to acquire this truth of 
being? I have a large business, a wife and 
several children to look after." 

Mr. Eegnets looked at his son and smiled 
as he said, "Humanity has not changed 
much after all, for here is my son offering 
the same excuses for not coming to the 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 27 

marriage feast, that Jesus, two thousand 
years ago, mentioned as favorite excuses. ' ' 
"I do not catch your meaning, father/ ' 
"I will make it plain. You will remem- 
ber that Jesus, to illustrate his teaching, 
often used parables, and upon one occa- 
sion he wished to illustrate how men never 
seem to have the time to acquaint them- 
selves with God, and that even those who 
claimed to be of the true fold (the chil- 
dren of Israel) were also too worldly- 
minded to think much of Spirit. So the 
Master likened the at-one-ment with God 
to a marriage feast, and represented the 
master of the feast as telling his servants 
to go to all the friends and brethren, the 
children of Israel, and bid them come ; but 
all sent excuses. One had a farm that 
needed attention, while others had some 
other material affairs that they could not 
leave. The master of the feast then turned 
away from the friends (children of Israel) 
and commanded his servants to go out into 



28 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

the highways and byways and invite the 
strangers, and still others were compelled 
to attend. It is the aching and troubled 
heart that soonest turns to God. Thus 
we see today, not the adherents of old 
theology, the professed friends of Christ, 
as attendants at the marriage feast, the 
true at-one-ment with God, but instead we 
see at the feast those from the highways 
and byways. Some came willingly, while 
others were compelled to come, some be- 
cause of sickness, some because of poverty, 
some because of conscience, for many could 
not reconcile the outgrown theological 
teachings of the churches with their reason. 
Truly the new guests, the strangers, have 
come from the highways and byways. From 
every nation, tribe, creed, position and con- 
dition they have come and are still com- 
ing to the marriage feast, to the truth of 
being as taught and exemplified by the 
Christian Science church and the Christian 
Science teachings/ ' 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 29 

"I surely believe that you have inter- 
preted that parable correctly, and if you 
have, it is scriptural evidence that the truth 
would be likely to be rejected by the pro- 
fessed Christian and established church/ ' 

"Yes; so I see it. There is a little more 
to this parable which I wish to call your 
attention to." 

"Very well, father, I am all attention." 

1 i The parable of the wedding appears in 
Luke and Matthew. Luke speaks of a 
great supper, while Matthew speaks of a 
wedding dinner. No doubt it is one and 
the same parable retold by two different 
persons, and that which I wish to call your 
attention to is recorded in verses eleven 
and twelve of the twenty-second chapter 
of Matthew: 'And when the king came in 
to see the guests, he saiv a man which had 
not on a wedding garment: and he saith 
unto him, Friend, how earnest thou in 
hither not having on a wedding garment? 
And he was speechless. 9 This wedding 



30 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

garment is the actual knowing of truth, 
instead of merely believing in God, the 
parable indicating that even were it pos- 
sible to get to eternal harmony through 
the belief route, the position could not be 
maintained, for the lack of understanding 
would at once be apparent at the first at- 
tempt of the individual to work out one of 
life's greater problems. The parable indi- 
cates that the individual would, under the 
circumstances, be bound hand and foot by~ 
human beliefs so that he could not see the 
truth, and that these very beliefs would 
cast him into outer darkness, ignorance of 
truth, and there would be wailing and 
gnashing of teeth. There would be ines- 
timable sorrow, in the knowing that he 
must again start at the foot of the ladder 
and climb up through actual understand- 
ing instead of belief." 

"I am astonished at what you say. It 
will be necessary for all to turn about and 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 31 

start again before they can reach the king- 
dom of heaven if what you say is true." 

"In the gospel of St. John, Jesus is rep- 
resented as saying: 'Verily, verily, I say 
unto you, Except a man be born again, he 
cannot see the kingdom of God/ To be 
born is, as it were, to become conscious, 
and at present, when mortals are born, they 
imbibe the idea that matter is real, and so 
take on a false sense of all things, and 
Jesus was showing with his words about 
being 'born again,' that there would need 
to come a second birth, a birth into the 
true consciousness, before W£ can become 
aware of Truth; for, in the words of 
Jesus, 'that which is born of the flesh is 
flesh ; and that which is born of the Spirit 
is spirit. ' To me this means that what- 
ever is conceived in or of error is error, 
while all that is conceived of Truth is true 
or real. Am I tiring you, Florien!" 

"No, indeed. I don't believe I was ever 
so interested in anything in my life, as 



32 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

I have been in your interpretations of these 
parables. I wish you would explain some 
more of them." 

"I am heartily glad that you are inter- 
ested, as I have hoped that I could present 
Christian Science to you in such a rea- 
sonable manner that you would see enough 
in it so that when you go back home you 
will continue its study. Truly, son, I have 
never in my whole life found any study 
half so interesting and so wonderfully 
helpful. Eeally, it solves all my questions 
relative to the present life and also to that 
which has been termed the hereafter." 

1 ' Father, I had no idea that you were so 
vitally engrossed as that, and knowing that 
you have always looked upon the practical 
side of life as the only side worth while, 
I am becoming convinced that you have 
found something of practical and every- 
day value in Christian Science." 

"That is the beauty of this grand teach- 
ing. One doesn't have to wait until some 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 33 

time in the mystical future for his reward, 
but it shows us how and why we can get 
the good we earn at once, here and now. 
You will remember that Jesus said the 
harvest is now, and what other word is 
more descriptive of reward than the word 
1 harvest/ for the harvest is surely the hus- 
bandman's reward." 

"How clear you make all these Bible 
statements, and how well they all harmo- 
nize with common sense when rightly un- 
derstood! Tell me, father, can you also 
give me light on the parable of the sower? 
It seems that this parable would be in line 
with what you said about the harvest." 

"The parable of the sower has no espe- 
cial connection with Jesus' statement about 
the harvest time, other than to emphasize 
the fact that there is a time to sow as well 
as a time to reap, and if the time to harvest 
is now, it must also be true that the time 
to sow is now." 

"Yes, I seem to see that this must be 



34 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

true. Will you please tell me of the 
parable of the sower?" 

"I shall be pleased to do so. This is 
one of the parables that Jesus himself 
interpreted to the disciples when alone 
with them, and has been the basis of 
innumerable sermons. I myself have heard 
many sermons preached from this parable, 
and it would seem that those who had 
preached a sermon from it must have 
understood it, but it is easily apparent to 
the Christian Scientist that such was not 
the case. An account of this parable is 
found in Matthew, Mark and Luke, and 
they vary but little in their versions of it, 
there being just an occasional word that is 
different. I shall read the parable as 
found in Mark, fourth chapter, because of 
a few of the words that he uses in speak- 
ing of the interpretation. 'And he taught 
them many things by parables, and said 
unto them in his doctrine, Hearken; Be- 
hold, there went out a sower to sow: and 



THE SOWEE, THE SEED, THE SOIL 35 

it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by 
the wayside and the fowls of the air came 
and devoured it up. And some fell on 
stony ground, where it hath not much 
earth; and immediately it sprang up, be- 
cause it had no depth of earth: But when 
the sun was up, it was scorched; and 
because it had no root, it withered away. 
And some fell among thorns and the thorns 
grew up, and choked it and it yielded no 
fruit. And other fell on good ground, 
and did yield fruit that sprang up and 
increased; and brought forth, some thirty, 
and some sixty, and some an hundred/ " 

Mr. Eegnets stopped reading and, glanc- 
ing at his son, said : 

"That is the parable of the sower. It 
is further stated in this same chapter that 
when Jesus and his disciples were alone 
they asked him the meaning of the parable. 
Here is his answer. 'Know ye not this 
parable*? and how then will ye know all 
parables?' In these few words of the Mas- 



36 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

ter is a world of meaning. To me it seems 
as though he had said something equiva- 
lent to the following : I am surprised to 
note that you do not understand this par- 
able, because it is based upon the prin- 
ciple of healing and saving which I have 
all along been teaching you, and if you 
cannot understand the basis of healing 
when it is clearly shown, how can you 
expect to understand the parables which I 
shall tell you later, in which the basis is 
more obscure? In fact, in this parable I 
have shown you the exact workings of God 
in healing and saving; nevertheless I will 
interpret the parable so that it may be 
clear to your thought. 

" 'The sower soweth the word. And 
these are they by the wayside, where the 
word is sown; but when they have heard, 
Satan cometh immediately, and taJceth 
away the word that was sown in their 
hearts. And these are they likewise which 
are sown on stony ground; who, when they 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 37 

have heard the word, immediately receive 
it with gladness; and have no root in them- 
selves and so endure but for a time: after- 
ward when affliction or persecution ariseth 
for the word's sake, immediately they are 
offended. And these are they which are 
sown among thorns; such as hear the word, 
and the cares of this world, and the deceit- 
fulness of riches, and the lusts of other 
things entering in, choke the word, and it 
becomes unfruitful. And these are they 
which are sown on good ground; such as 
hear the word, and receive it, and bring 
forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty 
and some an hundred.' " 

Mr. Eegnets placed the Bible on the 
table, but before he could speak, Florien 
said: "What a beautiful parable that is, 
and how clear the interpretation V ' 

"Do you fully understand the interpre- 
tation V 9 

"Yes, father, it is very plain; besides, I 



38 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

have heard our minister expound it sev- 
eral times.' ' 

"Then if you understand, why did you 
ask me to interpret it ! " 

"Why, father, I thought you did inter- 
pret it. The remarks you made before you 
read the interpretation from the Bible 
made it all clear." 

"My remarks perhaps made it clear that 
Jesus was surprised, or that he made it 
appear that he was surprised, to note that 
his disciples did not understand the par- 
able, and further that no doubt Jesus 
wished to impress their thought with the 
necessity of understanding this parable 
because it was of a basic nature." 

"Yes, I see that plainly, and then you 
read the interpretation, and having heard 
our minister explain it, I am sure that I 
fully understand." 

1 i Florien, if you understand that parable 
in its fullness, you then know the exact 
method in which God heals the sick and 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 39 

the sinner. You could then also heal the 
sick, in the same way that the disciples 
healed. You would also have very little 
trouble in interpreting any of the other 
parables, and you would also be able to 
teach others the Christian Science method 
of healing, for all this wisdom is shown 
through this parable. Do you think you 
can do these things with the understand- 
ing that you have?" 

"Why, father, certainly not; you surely 
are not in earnest when you say that a 
right understanding of this parable would 
make me capable of all these things." 

"If your minister could understandingly 
expound this parable, he would under- 
stand how Truth heals and saves, and if 
he knew what the sower ought to know he 
would not only know how Truth, God, heals 
but he would also himself know how to heal 
through the Christ method." 

Florien was silent for a moment and 
placed his hand to his forehead as though 



40 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

confused or in deep thought. Then look- 
ing squarely at his father he said: 

"You have gone beyond my comprehen- 
sion, or at least I do not understand your 
words. I cannot see how an understand- 
ing of this parable would enable me to 
heal the sick." 

"This parable tells exactly what takes 
place when a Christian Science treatment 
is given; in fact, it tells just how Truth 
heals and under what conditions." 

"If this be true then I must admit that 
I do not yet understand this parable, as I 
have no inkling of how God heals. Can 
you explain so that I can understand?" 

"I can explain and will do my very best 
to make it all plain, but it is left for you to 
do the understanding, as this is the work 
of each individual. There are several 
statements of Jesus that point this out — 
for instance, Mark 4:9, 'And he said unto 
them, He that hath ears to hear, let him 
hear. 9 — in other words, He that hath under- 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 41 

standing, let him apply this understanding 
to what I have said. In Matthew 13:12 
is a statement that is in accord with the 
above. It is/For whosoever hath, to him 
shall be given, and he shall have more 
abundance: but whosoever hath not, from 
him shall be taken away even that he 
hath.' " 

"Father, I have read that last statement 
many times, and to tell the truth about it, 
I do not like it, for it does not seem rea- 
sonable that God would deal so unjustly 
as to give more to those who already have 
plenty and take away the little that the 
poor have." 

Mr. Regnets could not entirely hide the 
smile that arose to his lips as he said: 

"In times past, when I was poor in this 
world's goods, I confess that I also thought 
there must be something wrong with that 
statement, as I could not reconcile such a 
method with the thought of a just God." 

"But you have now got so you can see 



42 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

the justice of taking from the poor the 
little that thev mav have?" 

* k No. Neither did Jesus so teach, 
though the statement holds true to a cer- 
tain extent in human experience with 
regard to material possessions; but it is 
not God's law that makes it so. It is sim- 
ply the way of the world, contrary to the 
way of God, However, Jesus was not 
speaking of worldly goods at all, as the 
context shows ; he was speaking relative to 
the understanding. He who hath under- 
standing will naturally get more, and he 
who hath no understanding has none to 
lose. Jesus did not say that the little 
understanding that he hath shall be taken 
away. The statement is, 'from him shall 
be taken away that he hath/ In other 
words, the individual who has some under- 
standing of Truth, God, will gain more, 
while the man who has no understanding 
of God, has yet an erroneous belief about 
God, and this is 'even that he hath/ and 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 43 

this erroneous belief shall be taken away, 
because, sooner or later, all will acquire 
an understanding of God. The Scripture 
says: 'God will have all men to be saved 
and to come into a knowledge of the 
truth.' " 

"How blind I have been, and how rea- 
sonable it all is when we hear the true 
explanation !' ' said Florien. 

1 • Yes ; I have said the same many times 
in the last few years, as understanding 
came to me. I shall now give you my best 
thought relative to the parable of the 
sower. Jesus said, 'A sower went forth to 
sow. ' Let us examine these words and see 
who and what is meant by a sower. In the 
literal sense we should say that a sower 
is one who sows seed or grain. In the 
application he would be one who sows 
thought, and if the thought is spoken, the 
sower sows the words he speaks. The 
speaker would be the sower, and his words 
would be the seed, and those who hear the 



44 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

words would be the soil. We often hear it 
said that a certain speaker sowed the seed 
of discord in the hearts of his hearers. 
But the sower that Jesus had in mind when 
he related his parable was one who was 
sowing good seed, meaning thereby not 
merely a good man, according to the human 
concept, but one who understood the truth 
of being. Such a man was Jesus, and the 
seed he was sowing was the true word, the 
scientific truth about Life, God, Being; 
and it was this truth of being which he had 
in mind when he said, 'Ye shall know the 
truth and the truth shall make you free.' 
That is, ye shall sometime know the actual 
truth about being, and consequently you 
will cease believing that to be true about 
life which has no part in it, and will find 
yourselves free from the baneful results of 
your erring thought." 

"The sower, then, that Jesus speaks of 
in this parable was a sower of good seed, 
and good seed consists of true thoughts 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 45 

and words, based upon an actual under- 
standing of God and His law, and not of 
the personal thought or word of those who 
merely believe in God and His law. A 
believer may be entirely wrong, but an 
understander is one who actually knows, 
and the thought and word that come from 
such an one must be good seed, right 
thought or right words.' ' 

"The varying kinds of ground upon 
which this good seed falls consist of the 
varying states of thought or consciousness 
of the hearers/ ' 

" 'Some fell by the wayside.' Jesus' 
explanation is, 'When any one heareth the 
word and under standeth it not. 9 This seed 
is seemingly lost. ' Then cometh the wicked 
one (general and individual false belief) 
and catcheth away that which was sown 
in his heart.' The former erroneous view 
is held in consciousness as the truth, 
regardless of what has been heard, and 
soon the true idea is forgotten." 



46 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

u ■ And these are they likewise which are 
sown on stony ground; who, when they 
have heard the word, immediately receive 
it with gladness.' A stony ground is a 
ground in which there is not much earth 
or substance, symbolizing no depth of 
thought or understanding. Such people 
are not absolute unbelievers, like those 'by 
the wayside/ but are believers without 
understanding, those who rely on blind 
faith, and through faith take for granted 
that which they have heard to be truth. 
Their change from belief in falsehood to a 
belief in truth is rewarded by a bettered 
condition or ' gladness.' 'And have no 
root in themselves.' They have no concep- 
tion of truth, no understanding, but have 
merely changed their form of belief. 'And 
so endure for a time.' These believers will 
side with truth as long as all goes well 
with them. 'Afterwards when affliction or 
persecution ariseth for the word's sake, 
immediately they are offended. ' But when 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 47 

things go contrary to what they have ex- 
pected or believed, not knowing the truth 
of being, they renounce their better belief 
and are again in their former erroneous 
thought. " 

" 'And these are they which are sown 
among thorns, such as hear the word, and 
the cares of the world (the general work 
and pleasure of human life) and the deceit- 
fulness of riches (the erring view that we 
must be rich in material things before we 
can have happiness) and the lusts of other 
things (the absorbing desire to gain that 
which we have not merited, unrighteous 
desire to have that which another pos- 
sesses) entering in choke the word/ We 
become so absorbed in striving to outdo 
our fellowmen that we forget to act up to 
our highest concept of right, — in other 
words, we strangle the good we know that 
we ought to do, and so the word ' becomes 
unfruitful.' Not putting into actual prac- 



48 THE SOWER, THE SEED r **HE SOIL 

tice the truth we know, th$ ^vord can bear 
no fruit/ ' # 

" 'And these are theysfrhich are sown 
on good ground; such as hear the word 
(such as are ready to let reason and under- 
standing be their guide) and receive it 
and take truth as they find it, without 
caviling at its demands), and bring forth 
fruit/ Meeting these demands with a fer- 
vent desire to conform to them in thought, 
word and deed, many through practical 
application of truth bring to fruition that 
which they have heard and understood of 
the science of being. 'Some thirtyfold, 
some sixty, and some an hundred/ Some 
will be able to multiply, in their own lives 
and among men, the good which they have 
received thirtyfold, and some sixtyfold, 
and some will make their lives so fruitful 
that the harvest will be, in appearance, a 
hundred times as great as the seed." 

Mr. Regnets now looked at his son, 
expecting him to speak, but as he did not 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 49 

he said: "Have I not made it plain, 
Florien?" 

"Yes, father, I think you have given me 
a deeper insight into the truth of the par- 
able of the sower, but I fail to connect 
anything you have said with healing the 
sick." 

"Oh, that is the stumbling block, is it? 
Well, I will try to show you the connection. 
In Science and Health, page 31, line 24, 
Mrs. Eddy writes, ' Jesus of Nazareth was 
the most scientific man that ever trod the 
globe. He plunged beneath the material 
surface of things, and found the spiritual 
cause.' Through this method Jesus knew 
that men are not corporeal beings with 
brains that formulate thought, but, on the 
contrary, that men are mentalities, and 
that human consciousness governs the 
body, and that all diseases are of mental 
origin instead of bodily origin, and that 
physical troubles are merely the result of 
the wrong thoughts or beliefs in human 



50 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

consciousness. As I said before, Jesus 
knew this to be the case, and thus he was 
able, through this deeper insight into the 
actual cause of sickness and trouble, to 
heal and also teach others the way to heal. 
Knowing that the belief of sin or sickness 
in consciousness would be manifested in 
the body as sickness so long as it remained 
and no longer, because the body expresses 
what the consciousness believes, just as a 
mirror reflects a likeness of the object held 
before it, he knew that to change the belief 
in consciousness is to change the condition 
shown forth in the body." 

1 'He also knew that to make the con- 
sciousness every whit whole, so that it will 
never again fall under the bondage of any 
sickness, it must become aware of the truth 
of being; that is, it must rise from ignor- 
ance or mere belief to a position of actual 
understanding: for those who have the 
understanding regarding anything what- 
soever cannot again be deceived into believ- 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 51 

ing in that which is contrary to their 
understanding. Jesus also knew that a 
belief in truth is better than a belief in 
error, and so for immediate relief he coun- 
seled those who could not understand to 
at least have faith in truth, knowing that 
if they did so it would be only a matter of 
time when their faith would be changed 
to actual understanding/ ' 

"Having seen that disease is the false 
product of an erring consciousness, we can 
now see more clearly what connection the 
parable of the sower has with healing the 
sick. The Christian Science practitioner of 
today, who is striving to follow the teach- 
ings of the Master, is the sower, sowing the 
word, the truth. In any given case the 
consciousness of the sick person is the soil, 
and this soil has been found by practi- 
tioners to be just as Jesus describes it in 
this parable. Many of the sick are like 
those by the wayside. When they are told 
of truth, their own personal beliefs are so 



52 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

thoroughly fixed that they give no place 
in consciousness to the consideration of 
truth, but jump to the conclusion that what 
they do not believe or know cannot be true, 
and so the words of truth spoken to them 
are snatched away, forgotten. This kind 
of consciousness, not allowing truth a 
hearing, must of necessity wait until the 
very suffering that its own beliefs produce 
compels it to come as a last resort with 
open mind to the truth. " 

"Others that come to Christian Science 
practitioners are like the stony ground. 
They come to truth with some degree of 
belief in truth, and for physical healing 
only. They are made glad by having their 
present ills healed or relieved, but having 
no real desire to understand the truth, they 
soon again are thinking and believing con- 
trary to truth, and when this erring man- 
ner of thinking again brings forth its fruit, 
the same or another disease, they are i of- 
fended/ and will for a time go back to 



THE SOWEE, THE SEED, THE SOIL 53 

material methods; but, sooner or later, 
through the very suffering that their 
wrong thoughts have produced, they will 
again be compelled to come to truth to set 
them free." 

" There are still others who come to the 
practitioners for healing, who are likened 
by the Master to the thorny ground in 
which the seed was sown. The thorns are 
allowed to choke the good seed which the 
practitioner is sowing in their conscious- 
ness. These thorns are in some cases 
sharp, angry thoughts and words. Some 
people come to truth to be healed with a 
lie on their lips, even in some cases deny- 
ing the benefit they have received, hoping 
in this way to urge the practitioner to 
greater effort in their behalf. They for- 
get that God, Truth, is not mocked, and 
that even if they should be successful in 
deceiving the practitioner, they cannot 
change the immutable law of right, and 
they will receive only that which is right. 



54 THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

Again many are so self-centered that they 
consider nobody and nothing, either right 
or wrong, except their own welfare. This 
selfishness also chokes the good seed. Yet 
others are so absorbed in material pleas- 
ures and pursuits that they blandly tell you 
that they have no time to seek truth; yet 
they expect the very thing they have turned 
their back upon, and have no time for, to 
heal them, and when it is not accomplished 
in the time that they themselves have sot, 
they are prone to blame the practitioner, 
or the truth of being, or the Infinite all- 
power, — in fact, everything but themselves, 
— and in this way choke the good seed." 

"Now we come to those who are 'good 
ground. p They are sincere from the begin- 
ning. They do not bemoan their hard 
fate, nor do they cavil at the demands of 
truth, but when shown the light by the 
practitioner, they at once bend every 
energy and thought to conform to the Prin- 
ciple of being. They care not primarily 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 55 

how fast or how slow the progress may be. 
They know that God is infinitely just and 
that they will surely get according to their 
deserving. They see the hoped for goal 
ahead and do not spend half their time 
counting their bleeding footsteps, but 
rejoice in a little progress each day. To 
such as these the promise of surcease from 
pain and trouble is sure to be fulfilled. If 
the healing is accomplished at once, they 
are thankful, but they do not because of 
their liberation from evil cease seeking for 
their God, but show by watchfulness and 
kind deeds the thankfulness they feel. If 
•the healing is slow, there is no word of 
complaint, but a redoubling of the effort 
to do only that which is right and just; 
and ofttimes we hear it said by such as 
these, 'I am thankful that my healing was 
slow, as it made me search the harder for 
the Truth, and I am now so much the better 
for it.' When the truth is orally spoken 
to such as these, or when it is whispered 



56 THE SOWEB, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

in infinite consciousness through silent 
thought, it is thankfully received; it is 
cherished and guarded, and watered, and 
soon it takes root, and its fruition in that 
human consciousness consists of infinite 
blessings in the way of health, happiness, 
prosperity, peace and good will to all. Such 
as these are soon at work in the Master's 
vineyard, producing good fruits similar to 
those they have received, some thirtyfold, 
some sixty and some an hundred.' ' 

1 ■ While all are not so placed that they 
can give their time largely to the healing 
of the sick, yet they are not idle, but as 
opportunity offers, they are found preach- 
ing the gospel ('good-spel') to their 
neighbors, and doing what they can to 
show the way to the Father. I know that 
this is true, as I am speaking from my 
own experience." 

Florien looked up at his father with 
amazement and said: "Father, do you 
wish me to understand that you are a 



THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 57 

Christian Science practitioner V ' 

"Yes, Florien, I have been a practi- 
tioner for several years, and your mother 
has had class instruction and has done 
some remarkable healing, but has not de- 
voted all her time to this healing, as I am 
doing.' ' 

"What of the many friends in the old 
church V 

"Some were sick and have been healed 
through your mother's efforts or mine, 
and are now Christian Scientists, and a 
few have come to Science through what 
they saw done. Many are still with the 
old church, but the best of feeling prevails 
with all." 

Florien smiled as he said : "I will wager 
that I can name one who is with the old 
church I" 

"Who?" 

"Deacon Johnson.' ' 

"I thought you would name him, but you 
are mistaken. Mr. Johnson has been our 



58 THE SOWEB. THE SEED. THE SOIL 

First Reader for the past two years." 

"I have nothing more to say. That is 
the last straw, and I am done." 

A quiet laugh followed this statement of 
Florien's, and both gentlemen turned to 
see who was laughing, and saw in the door- 
way leading to the living room Florien's 
mother and by her side his wife, who said : 
"I heard your remarks about Deacon John- 
son, and I could not restrain my laughter ; 
for it is not five minutes since mother told 
me all about their being Christian Scien- 
tists, and also about Deacon Johnson." 

''Did mother tell you that father is a 
practitioner?" 

"Yes, and so much more that I am more 
than half convinced that they have some- 
thing that we need; in fact, mother and I 
have done nothing the entire evening but 
talk of this Science." 

"Well, that is just what father and I 
have done ever since dinner, and I must 
say I am strongly impressed with what I 



THE SOWER, THE SEED, THE SOIL 59 

have heard. In fact I am so interested 
that I wish you would come in, and I will 
ask father to interpret some more of the 
parables in the Bible. It is wonderfully 
interesting/ ' 

"Florien," said his mother, "do you 
realize that it is half past twelve !" 

"Is it possible? Why I have been so 
interested that I never noticed the flight of 
time. I had no idea that it was so late." 

"I think we have talked enough for this 
time, Florien. You will have plenty to 
think about until tomorrow night, and then, 
if you wish, I will talk more to you on this 
subject," said the father. 

"Just the words that mother said to me 
a few minutes ago, and I think she is 
right," said the wife. 

"Yes, perhaps so, but I wish it were 
only eight instead of twelve." 

"I am inclined to judge by your sin- 
cerity that my seed has been sown in good 
soil," said Mr. Regnets. 



60 THE SOWEK, THE SEED, THE SOIL 

"I know it has, and so has mine," said 
Florien's mother. 

"Then truly I am doubly thankful, and 
what may not the harvest be?" 



THE END. 



SEP r 17 1912 



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